A Light in the Darkness
by Shadow Dragonia
Summary: (Finished) This is a story about Shadow and how her life was before she meet DA and became one of our friends on FF.Net. Not one of the happiest stories I've ever written but hopefully someone will find it interesting.
1. The World few know of

Hi everyone, dragonia here. Now about this story, this is kind of the life story of our beloved Shadow Fox, or most of you know her as Shadow. As you know, Shadow is a Fox Akishan (A-key-sh-ann). Now, I originally created the Akishan race for my FF9 story "20 Years Later". That's why this story is in the FF9 section. Now I don't think I'll be getting many reviews for this, but oh well, whatever reviews I do get will be greatly appreciated.

Ch.1 The world few know of

Quick Background info on Akishans

Thousands of years ago our planet Gaia was home to many different races. However there was one race that turned the world upside down, the Akishans. Hundreds of these strange creatures seemed to just appear out of no where. There were all the same, human shaped bodies, human voices, mostly everything they did was just like the rest of us. The lived in houses with their families, worked, played, ate, slept, everything you would do, they did. But there was something strange about these creatures. Everyone of them, in some way, shape or form, resembled that of a different animal. And that's not even the strangest part. They had two different forms. They were able to change their shapes from a half human half animal form, into a full animal form of whatever animal they where part of.

Some resembled Wolves, with a pair of furry pointed wolf ears on their heads, a bushy wolf tail coming out of their back side, yellow wolfish eyes on almost everyone of them, some even carried claws instead of nails and fangs in their mouths. These 'Wolf Akishans' as they called themselves where mostly found in villages in the snowy woods of the Lost Continent. Everyone of them seemed to posses the same strange ability to run at an incredible speed while in their wolf forms.

Then their where others who would resemble a type of bird. Long wings attached to their arms, tail feathers coming out of their backsides, long sharp talons instead of fingernails, and dark strange eyes that seemed to look into your soul. These types of Akishans also had an special ability they could all use. Whether in human or animal form these creatures could flap their wings whenever they wanted and create a type of Sonic boom twister capable of destroying a small village. These Akishans where mostly found in the mountains of the Forgotten Continent.

However there is one type of Akishans that this story is based on. They are known as 'Fox Akishans'. Fox Akishans usually have a pair of long pointed fox ears on their heads, along with a long bushy foxtail trailing behind them. Along with that they also have claws in place of their fingernails, and fox like eyes of many different colors. Fox Akishans special ability seems to allow them to transform into any form they want, be it living or non. Fox Akishan Villages can be located on all 4 continents at this point in time, however most seem to be in the wooded forests of the Outer Continent.

At this point your probably wondering what the point of all this is, why is she even writing this story? Well, I'll tell you. I'm writing this story to tell a story, a story about a world few people know the truth about, a story about a race of people who were almost whipped out thanks to the fear of the rest of the world, a story about a young Fox Akishan and what she went through during this time in her life. This is the story of Shadow Fox.

Ch.1 The world few know of

Over on the Outer Continent, deep in the woods, stood a small village of about 30 houses. In the center of the village stood a beautiful temple with a very strange symbol on the door. The symbol looked like a five-pointed star with a moon carved into the center. The bottom four points on the star seemed to each have a teardrop attached to them. Each teardrop was a different color, one black, one red, one white, and one gray. Attached to the point at the top was a diamond shaped black jewel sparkling in the sunlight.

There where many people wondering threw the village, being only around noon this was no surprise. Some where on their way to the woods to gather wood for their stoves in their homes. Some where going off to visit a friend only about a 3 minutes walk away. But most where children running around trying to get in a quick game before their afternoon training started.

"Pass the ball Luke!"

"Heads up Kassy!"

"Wha….OW, Hey Watch It!"

"Sorry Kassy!"

"Shadow, over here!"

"Get the ball before….."

They where cut off as the ball they where throwing around smashed into one of the windows of the Village temple. The 6 kids stood there too terrified to move, if their parents found out about this, they didn't even want to think about what would happen.

"Man Shadow…your in big trouble now" Andy said still starring at the shattered glass.

"What do you mean I'm in trouble, YOU where supposed to catch it!!!!" Shouted Shadow defensively.

Luke looked over at his loud mouth sister giving her the look of all looks signaling for her to shut up, which she did.

"So what do we do now?" Asked Kassy, looking between her friends and the window of the temple.

"I say we run before we get caught," replied Candy, Kassy's twin sister. 

The 6 children looked at each other then back to the window. With out saying a word they all turned and prepared to make a run for the woods before someone found out what had happened. However, before they could go anywhere, someone came up behind them and grabbed Shadow and her cousin Hunter by the shoulders stopping them from going anywhere. Shadow and Hunter both turned to come face to face with their very own Training instructor.

"Uh-Oh…h-hi….Kitari" Shadow and Hunter said in unison.

Kitari glared down at the 2 kids she now held on to, one being her very own brother. After making sure Shadow and Hunter knew that she knew what they had done without saying a word, she turned and looked up at the other 4 kids, who were all trying to sneak away at the time.

"And just WHERE do you think YOUR going!?" demanded the 18 year old training instructor.

The twins, Kassy and Candy, where the first to stop. They turned to Kitari and lowered their heads, to afraid to look the young woman in the eyes. After another demanding question from Kitari, Andy decided to stop and joined his sisters by lowering his head as well. Luke however, decided this was as good a time as any and bolted from the area as fast as he could, leaving his friends, his cousins, and his very own sister to feel Kitaris wrath alone. However he didn't get far before bumping into the chest of his very own father, sending Luke falling back to the ground with a loud Thump.

"Luke?" His father asked, surprised to see his son running like he was being chased by a Grand Dragon. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

Luke looked up at his father with a very guilty look but quickly shook it off before he noticed. Then he tried to come up with any possible lie he could to get himself out of this mess, however, before he had a chance to open his mouth, Kitari came running over yelling at Luke and told his father everything.

"They What!?" Lukes father bellowed, glaring angrily at the 6 cowering children behind Kitari.

"They broke one of the temple windows," stated Kitari, not at all fazed by her Uncles angered voice.

"Haven't you kids be told before NOT to play near the Temple!?" demanded the angered Half Fox.

"Dad, we really weren't that close, the wind just, kind of, caught the ball and…." Luke started trying to save himself and friends from Kitari and his fathers wrath now.

"Save it Luke, you kids have been told before not to play around there!" His father yelled once again, causing the 13 year old to stop whatever he was going to say and cower back with his friends.

"Daddy, it was my fault," said the 8 year old Fox as she stepped infront of her brother to face her father. "I was trying to pass the ball to Andy, and he was behind Hunter so I had to throw it extra hard and it went to far and smashed into the window, I'm really sorry Daddy, I promise I'll be more careful next time…." Shadow finished up her apology by faking a few tears.

"Aw, baby its ok, just make sure next time your away from the temple, ok" asked her father.

Shadow nodded her head and gave her dad the cutest smile any 8 year old girl could come up with. Her father smiled and went back to what he was doing before bumping into Luke. When he was out of sight, Kassy, Candy, Hunter, and Andy all ran over to Shadow and congratulated her on a great performance. Luke smirked over at Kitari, he knew that the fact that they all just got off the hook so easily was eating her up inside. If anyone could turn his father into a big soft teddy bear, it was his little sister. Shadow always had a way when it came to getting what she wanted.

"Alright, alright, enough of this. Its 1:30, you all know what that means!" Ordered Kitari as she pointed to a path in the woods just beyond the village. "training time, LETS GO!"

And the 6 friends marched off to the training grounds with their devil of a training instructor.

Just to clear up any problems, heres some info on the characters you've meet so far.

Shadow, you should know about her already but heres some more info on her. At this point in the story Shadow is only 8 years old. As you may have noticed she has an older brother named Luke who is 13 years old. She also has 2 cousins, Hunter who is 11 years old, and Kitari who is 18 years old. Shadow's ears and tail are a reddish brown color, she also has black hair that goes down to about her waist, however she seems to keep that in a pony tail. She also has violet eyes, as well as a violet colored streak on each of her cheeks. Located on her forehead is a small violet diamond shaped mark. Shadows best friends are Kassy and Candy, however she also likes to play games with Luke and Hunter, as well as the twins brother Andrew (Andy). Shadow seems to have the strange ability to get her dad to do whatever she wants, which really comes in handy.

Luke, Shadows 13 year old, older brother. Luke is very protective of his little sister and will do anything to keep her safe, however when it comes to a problem with his cousin Kitari, its every man for himself. Lukes about the average size for a 13 year old boy. He has short black hair, and a dark brown tail and ears. His eyes are a dark bluish color, he also has the same markings on his face as Shadow except that instead of violet his marks are red. Luke doesn't mind his sister following him every now and then, but he much rather prefers to play games with his cousin Hunter, as long as Kitaris not around. He also doesn't mind hanging around with Andy and the twins, however he has noticed that when the 6 of them are together, it usually ends in trouble.

Hunter, Kitaris 11 year old younger brother. Hunter is Shadow and Lukes cousin, and probably best friend. The 3 of them play almost every day. Hunter and Luke seem to have the most fun when Shadows not around, mostly because that means they can pull pranks on Kitari and be able to get away with it easier. Hunter has medium length brown hair that is often found pulled into a small ponytail behind his head. His eyes are a dark green color. His Ears and tail are an odd combination of brown and black. Hunter loves playing games with his friends, and is a very loyal friend himself. He'd stick up or fight for any of his friends, even against his own sister. Hunter seems to be the only of the 6 friends to ever have a problem telling Kassy from Candy. However Luke and Shadow think he just likes to annoy the twins.

Kassy, Candy's twin sister and one of Andrews, 10 year old, older sisters. Kassy is sweet, but can be alittle stuck up sometimes. She is almost always found around her sister Candy. Besides her sister, Kassy's closest friend would be Shadow. Kassy has dark red hair cut at her shoulders, bright green eyes, and a light brown tail and ears. Kassy has a small crush on Hunter, that no one but she knows about at this point. However every time he mistakes her for her sister she feels like punching him in the face. Kassy has fun hanging out with her fiends, but really doesn't agree with some of the games they play. The only thing she really agrees with them about is the unified hatred of Kitari.

Candy, Kassy's twin sister and Andrew's second, 10 year old, older sister. Candy is also always around Kassy. However, Candy seems to be the more tomboyish of the two girls. Candy has refused to wear a dress sense the day she was born and much rather prefers going to the woods next to a tea party. Candy and Shadow are best friends, some times Candy swears she's more Shadows twin the Kassy's. Candy, like her sister, has dark red hair. However Candy decided to let hers grow and now reaches down below her waist, however you would never be able to tell, she almost always has her hair braided into a long single braid, so most of the time it only reaches about half way down her back. Candy's eyes are also bright green with a light brown tail and ears. Candy, also like her sister, has a small crush on Hunter. So there is usually an unnoticed battle between the twins for the young boy's attention. Also, like the rest, Candy shares a part in the unified haters of Kitari club, or so she likes to put it.

Andrew, or Andy as he is most often called. This 8 year old boy is the younger brother to the twins Candy and Kassy. Hes sometimes on the quite side, so often he just follows his sisters around, which usually bring him into a game with Shadow, Luke, and Hunter. Andrew has short reddish brown hair, as well as ear and a tail of the same color. His eyes are a dark brown, when seen in dim light almost seem black. Andrew, like the others, is a hater of the evil training instructor Kitari.

Kitari, the 18 year old devil queen of the village. On her 18th birthday, Kitari was put in charge of making sure the children of age, anyone 8 years old and over, AKA Shadow, Luke, Kassy, Candy, Hunter, and Andrew, were all properly taught how to master their shapeshifting ability as well as Kitari had when she turned 12. Sense then Kitari has been known to the 6 unlucky kids as the training instructor from heck. She claims she's though on them so they'll learn better, but deep down, she just really doesn't like any of them. Even her own brother and cousin constantly pull pranks on her, which she makes sure to get even with them during training. Kitari has shinny black hair cut off right below her shoulders. She also has bright blue eyes and dark brown ears and tail. She, like her two cousins, also has streaks on her cheeks, hers however are a dark green color, as well as a green diamond mark on her forehead. Kitari and her brother Hunter used to get along really well, but as Kitari puts it 'When he turned 10, he turned into a miniature Luke'. This also means that Kitari doesn't get along with Luke very well. She is very aware that the kids consider them selves the unified Kitari haters, to show them just how much she likes that name, she makes sure they get plenty of exercise during training.

That's all the character info for now. I'll have more information as new characters are brought into the story. Hope everyone (or someone) is enjoying this so far. Also this is my first attempt at a non-script style story, so bare with me. Well, please review. Later.^_^ 


	2. The Power Crystal

Ok, I couldn't think of much for the next chapter to this. So we're going to skip ahead 4 years. Not much more to say so read, review, and hope you enjoy.

Ch.2 The Power Crystal

The sun was just rising over the sleepy village. Some were up working while others still slept in their beds. However, one certain Akishan was awake and slowly creeping towards his sisters room. Today marked her 12th birthday and he wanted to make sure she started the day off right. 

He opened the door slowly and walked over to the side of her bed. Laying under the blanket, Shadow slept peacefully. Out side of the blanket Luke was trying to contain his laughter. He gently sat a bucket he had been carrying next to her bed and slowly leaned down so he was inches away from her ear. Luke took a deep breath, then.

"Oh Shadow…..**WAKE UP!!!!**" he screamed into her ear. Shadow however still layed there peacefully. "You have got to be kidding….oh well"

With a shrug of his shoulders Luke bent down and picked up the bucket full of very very cold water. Lifting it up above his sisters head he quickly shifted the bucket pouring the water all over Shadows head. Shadow shot up like lightning screaming while Luke dropped to the floor laughing.

"You Jerk!!!! Why'd you do that!?" Shadow demanded, glaring at her brother.

"I tried…to wake you up….but…you wouldn't" Luke managed to say between laughs. "Alright shrimp, now that your up its time to go." He said while getting off the floor.

"Stop calling me shrimp!" Shadow said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hey, just because its your 12th birthday, doesn't mean I cant still call you that."

"Whatever."

"Now come on, or do you NOT want your Power Crystal?"

"I finally get one!?" Shadow asked jumping off her bed in excitement.

"You idiot, every Akishan on their 12th birthday gets a Power Crystal. It marks the time in your life that your finally considered an adult."

"YEAH!!!" with that Shadow bolted past her brother, out of their house, and over to the Temple where her friends and family, as well as the 4 Temple sages stood waiting.

"I'm here" Shadow said, running up to everyone, followed by Luke.

"Your Late" Stated Kitari.

"And your Jealous, what else is New?" Shadow said, grinning at her cousin.

"Ahem, Shadow Fox?" one of the Sages asked.

"Yes?"

"Would you mind if we started now?"

"Oh, sorry" She said, smiling sheepishly.

The 4 Sages stood in a circle around Shadow. One Sage in a black robe, one in white, one in red, and one in grey. All 4 had a Crystal type stone on a gold chain around their necks, a Power Crystal.

Power Crystals are given to every Akishan on their 12th birthday. The Power Crystal gives is owner the power to mimic any magical spell the owner had witnessed recently. The Crystals can be very powerful, but very rare. If an Akishan loses their Crystal, they Never get a new one.

2 weeks ago, Andy turned 12 and received a light blue Power Crystal. Today, being Shadow Fox's 12th birthday, she now has the privilege to receive a Power Crystal. And so the Ritual began.

The white Sage began, "New youth so young"

Then the red Sage, "New Power so weak"

Then grey, "May the Goddess protect you"

Then black, "May the Goddess give you strenght"

"Power"

"Wisdom"

"Protection"

"Courage"

"and Life"

:from now till your death"

With that a bright glowing light covered Shadow. When the light died down a shimmering violet colored Crystal hung from a golden chain around Shadows neck.

"May this Power Crystal protect you"

"May this Power Crystal guide you"

"As long as you have that Crystal"

"The Goddess shall look after you"

With the Ritual finished the Sages left, returning into the Temple. When they where out of sight Shadow's friends ran up to her to congratulate her.

"Were you scared when the light started?" Kassy asked.

"No fair, my Crystals red, you get a purple one" Candy said while examining Shadows Crystal.

"Congratulations sis, now you can fight if the village is ever in trouble" Luke said, patting his sister on her shoulder.

"Like that'll ever happen" Hunter said. "besides, she doesn't even know how to use it."

"Come on Hunter, give me a break, I just got the Crystal" Shadow said defensively.

"Yeah, shes got plenty of time to learn how to use it" Kassy said.

Unfortunitly, just then the sky turned black. Dark clouds formed over the small village in no time. Thunder roared through the air, lightning cut through the clouds, the villagers froze. The all stopped and stared at the sky.

"What….whats going on? We never have storms like this during this time of year." Candy said. Looking at her friends she realized they were all as confused as she was.

However that confusion didn't last long. Through the clouds a figure could be seen. It descends through the darkness making its presence known to all. It was a Grand Dragon, one of the fiercest, dangerous, most powerful creatures on Gaia. In no time the villagers where ready to fight. The Town Square was flooded with villagers, most carrying weapons, some with nothing more then their Crystals. Then, right when they were about to start their attack, more roars were heard. Out of the clouds even more Grand Dragons appeared. There appeared to be 60 maybe 70 or 80 dragons circling the village. Then, it began.

At once, about half of the dragons blasted the village with their Thundara attack. Homes were destroyed with one blast, and many villagers already injured. Shadow saw her father run up to join the villagers, followed by Kitari. Seeing his sister running off to battle, Hunter soon followed. Kassy and Candy took it upon their selves to protect their younger brother. Andy, like Shadow had just received his Crystal and did not know how to use it well enough to go up against a Grand Dragon, let alone 80. So he stayed back with his sisters.

Luke was dying to go help his father, but knew he first had to protect his sister. Shadow also had no idea how to use her Crystal, and was not trained to handle any type of weapon, she was defenseless. Knowing this, the 17 year old boy grabbed his sisters wrist and dragged her back to their house. Once inside he lifted up a latched door in the floor to reveal a small room under the house.

"Luke, what are we doing? We have to go help!" Shadow said, her voice full of worry over her father and friends.

"Shadow, you know as well as I do that if you go out their you'll just get yourself killed."

"But…"

"No buts. You've heard the stories. 10 years ago this same thing happened, almost. The village was attacked by about 15 of those beasts. You were too young to remember, but I wasn't. That was the day Mother died, along with Hunter's parents and the twin's father. The only reason we all survived was because our parents put us in these safe rooms under the houses where the dragons couldn't get to us."

"Luke….I want to help. I do remember that day, I remember all the screams, everything. I'd rather go out their and die then stay here and live through that AGAIN!!!" Shadow was in tears at this point.

Luke knew how much pain his sister was in, he also knew that this would probably be the last time he saw her. He wrapped his arms around his sister and pulled her into a soft hug. "Shadow…..please, promise you'll stay in the safe room."

"I cant"

"Please, just stay in there until someone comes for you."

"What if no one comes?"

"Someone will, I promise"

Whipping away her tears, Shadow nodded her head and climbed into the safe room. Once she was in there, Luke slowly lowered the door. With out another word, he raced back out of the house and into the streets of the village to help with the fight.

Shadow sat on the floor of the safe room and pulled her legs up to her chest. Resting her head on her knees, she started crying. She too, also knew she would never see her brother _alive_ again. She sat there for hours, trying to drown out the screams, roars, cries, and other noises of destruction coming from out side with her own crying. After what seemed like hours, some how, she had cried herself to sleep and the noises on destruction were no more.

That's it for now. Please review. I'll actually try to update this again soon. Later.^_^


	3. Alone?

This chapter is rated PG-13 or higher due to details. In other words, if you have a weak stomach, you've been warned….

This chapter is long, but its also the last one. If I had stretched it into 2 chapters then this one would have been short. So instead, I decided to end it here with a Longer chapter. Hope you enjoy, and please review.

Ch.3 Alone?

Shadow awoke to dark silence. She lifted her head off of her knees to look around.

"Where am I?" she thought. "wait….oh yeah, the dragons. I wonder how long I've been down here. Wait a minute, I don't hear anything, maybe the fighting's over! But if it is, why don't I hear people talking or moving things around?"

Forgetting the fact that she had promised Luke she wouldn't move until someone came for her, Shadow got up and pushed on the door to open it. Surprisingly, it wouldn't move.

"Its stuck!"

Trying a few more times, and pushing even harder, the door finally opened. Once she climbed out of the door way, Shadow noticed right next to her was a dead Grand Dragon.

"That must be what was holding the door down." She thought.

Still afraid of what the silence would bring her, Shadow walked slowly out of her home and into the street. There she could only gasp in pure horror. Bodies of Akishans and Dragons littered the streets of a ghost town she once called home. Some lay in their own pools of blood, some where just mangled remains, but most where burnt from the Dragons Thundara attacks. The village houses where in ruins, the Temple was nothing more then a few broken walls. Shadow's once beloved home was now a wasteland of death.

Among the bodies, Shadows fears became true. She located the twins, Candy and Kassy, together near the village entrance, bloodied and burnt. It seemed as though they had tried to make a run for the forest when a dragon spotted them and used its flame breath on them. Shadow stood beside her fallen friends for a few minutes, praying for their souls. 

Continuing her search around the village remains, she also found Andy as well as her own cousin Kitari. Both seemed to be victims of a Thundara attack. Andys body just laid there, like any innocent would in death. Kitari however, seemed to die that way she always wanted to. Shadow found Kitari in the jaws of a Grand Dragon, her swords blade jammed into the beasts skull.

"Just like Kitari, died fighting…" Shadow whispered to herself, wiping away her tears. 

Shadow paid respects to her friend and cousin with a small prayer before continuing around the village. Unfortunately as she rounded the corner of the temple, she found too more bodies. She found her father, buried among a pile of dead dragons. He, like Kitari, had also died with his blade through a dragons skull. 

Turning away from her father before she broke out in tears Shadow finally found her brother. The fighters spirit had run through her blood line, through her father, cousins, and her brother. Luke, like his father, and like Kitari, had also died fighting. His bloodied body hung from the fanged mouth of a dead dragon. A silver dagger, dripping with crimson blood, hung from Luke cold left hand. This was it, her friends, her family, her brother, where all gone. 

In pure rage and anger Shadow pulled the silver dagger from her brothers bloody hand and continuously stabbed it randomly into the dragon. While doing this she started screaming how much she hated dragons, Gaia, and cursing at her so called goddess. This continued for about 30 minutes before she dropped the dagger, fell to her knees, and just cried. Even after she had no tears left, she continued to cry.

*********

It took almost over a month, but Shadow finally finished marking the last villagers grave. She had buried every villager she found in a circle around the Temple. Her father, Kitari, Candy, Kassy, Andy, and Luke were buried at the foot of the Temple steps. Each grave marked with beautiful flowers she had gathered from the surrounding forest. It was over now. Everyone she knew was dead. Well, not everyone. After searching around the village remains many times, Shadow failed to find any trace of her lost cousin Hunter.

"Hunter, if your out there, please be safe. I'll find you, some day, I swear it…"

With that, Shadow secured her brothers dagger to her belt, turned, and headed towards the village entrance. There was no longer a village here, no villagers, no life. All that remained to Shadows home was a dead wasteland and memories. With no reason to stay, she left. She left her village, her home, her life, never to return again.

************** 4 Years Later **************

"Leave Me Alone Beasts!!!"

The young girl ran through the forest, jumping over roots, and pushing through branches. Her long black hair blew through the branches as she ran. A sparkling violet stone on a chain around her neck bounced back and forth on her chest every time she jumped. And above her, above the trees, 3 Grand Dragons continued their chase. The dragons had been chasing her for over an hour now. The now 16 year old Shadow was almost too tired to continue running. 

"Maybe I should just give up now." She thought.

Just then she noticed a clearing ahead of her. As she got closer she noticed something standing in the clearing. This stranger, at first, seemed to be some sort of, Demon. From where Shadow was she could see that the demon appeared to be female. She had large blue dragon like wings, Black armor, and fiery red hair.

At the edge of the clearing Shadow stopped. Behind her were 3 Grand Dragons, ahead of her was an unknown demon girl. Either way seemed to bring death to her. But before she could make a decision, the 3 dragons burst into the clearing. Once they spotted the demon girl they had no hesitation before blasting her with 3 powerful Thundara attacks. The attacks struck the girl before she even knew if was coming. A cloud of dust appeared after the attacks hit, when the dust cleared a massive crater was all that could be seen where the demon girl once stood. Shadow stood behind a tree and looked on as the battle was about to begin.

Suddenly the demon girl shot out of the crater and into the sky with incredible speed. She shot up towards one of the three dragons. Then, with out warning, sliced the beast right in half with a spear that seemed to appear out of no where. The two halves fell to the ground as the other two dragons charged towards the demon. One attempted to bit at her, which she easily dodged. The other whipped its tail at her, but instead of dodging, she simply brought her spear around and sliced the dragons tail clean off. The beast cried out in pain, but that did not stop their attacks. However, as if they had been suddenly ordered, both dragons descended to the ground right near Shadow.

When the dragons got closer Shadow got scared. She tried to make a run for it, but stupidly ran right into the clearing. One of the dragons saw her and shot its lightning at her. Using some newfound speed, thanks to her Power Crystal, Shadow easily dodged the attack. Then the other dragon used its own tail and whipped it at Shadow in an attempt to knock her down. Shadow however, simply jumped over the dragons tail and landed on its back. Once there, she removed her brothers dagger from her belt and jabbed it into the beasts back. As the beast cries in pain, the other charges towards Shadow with plans to crushing her in its jaws.

Above the new battle, the demon girl looked on. Very amused by the Fox girls abilities and fighting spirit, the demon girl decides to help her out. Once again using her speed, the demon flies down to the dragon about to attack Shadow. However, before it can reach her, the demon girl drives her spear right into the dragons skull, dropping it instantly. Seeing this, Shadow removes her dagger from the other dragons back and thrusts it into the beasts skull. Now with both dragons defeated, Shadow drops to the ground exhausted. 

"You're a pretty good fighter." An unknown voice states.

Shocked by this new voice, Shadow opens her eyes to see its source. Finally remembering the demon girl, Shadow discovers that that same girl is standing over her smiling down at her. What shocks Shadow even more is how different the girl now looks. Now wings, No spear, No Armor. The demon was now dressed in dark brown pants and a black shirt. Her bright red hair pulled back into a lose pony tail and her dark violet eyes still watching Shadow, still waiting for a reply.

Once realizing the long moment of silence between the two, Shadow smacks her forehead and sits up.

"Sorry, I kind of dazed off there. Oh and thanks for saving be back there." Shadow said, feeling like an idiot.

"Don't thank me too much. I only fought because they started it" The girl stated as she sat down next to Shadow.

"Oh, well thanks anyways. By the way, my names Shadow. What about you?" She asked, extending her hand to the girl.

The red head paused for a moment, then accepted Shadows hand in a hand shake.

"Names DA. Nice to meet you Shadow"

"DA?"

"What?"

"N-Nothing, its just, well that's kind of a strange name" Shadow said to the now, a bit offended, red head.

"Oh and Shadows a _normal_ name!?"

"Hey, it stands for Shadow Fox!"

"Oh, that's so much better" DA said sarcastically.

Shadow paused for a moment, then busted out laughing.

"Guess you've got a point. So whats DA stand for?"

"Dragoon Amber" DA calmly stated.

"……ok…..forget I asked" Shadow said, still laughing lightly.

In an attempt to change the subject, Shadow turned to the dead dragon beside her and kicked it.

"Stupid dragon" She said, her voice full of hate, "All they do is bring destruction."

"That's because their mindless beasts that only know how to destroy things" DA said, "Without a dragoon, they are destructive monsters."

"Dragoon?" Shadow asked, some what interested.

"You don't know about us?" DA asked.

"Us?" 

"I'm a dragoon"

"Oh, so whats a dragoon?" Shadow asked again.

"Dragoons are half human, half dragon. Thousands of years ago, to dragons, dragoons where gods. A dragoon of a certain element had the power to control any and all dragons of that element."

"So what happened?"

"We abused our powers. Some dragoons created dragon army's to take over, or destroy the world. Then because of that, the goddess striped all dragoons of their powers to control dragons. All but a select few. The goddess created 8 dragoons, all of a different element. They are known as the 8 immortal guardians. Those goody goods use their powers to protect Gaia."

"Nice story" Shadow said, stretching out in the grass.

"Its not just a story, it's a true legend!"

"Whatever"

Shadow laid in the grass as the clouds floated by. After a few minutes DA also decided to rest. The two just laid there for about 20 minutes without a sound. That is until a loud flapping sound was heard. Both girls sat up to find that they had been surrounded by a group of 30 or more Grand Dragons.

"Looks like they want to avenge there friends" DA said, getting up.

"Think we have a chance?" Shadow asked, also standing.

"Not a chance in hell" DA simply stated.

"So, its over?'

"I never said that"

"What are you talking about?" Shadow asked, a bit confused.

"I know a place we can go to get away from these dragons. My…..friends, should be there too."

"Sounds good, but where is this place? How do we get there?"

"Ever been teleported?" DA asked, extending her hand to Shadow.

At first Shadow thought about this, then finally understanding, the grabbed DA's hand with her own.

"Guess theres a first time for everything." Shadow said.

Then, in a small flash of light, they were gone. The dragons looked around confused before just flying off.

*************

Shadow and DA appeared out of no where and found themselves in a large bright room. Looking around Shadow noticed 3 large couches spread out through the room. She also saw strange black boxes with glass like screens on the fronts. On the walls were large paper pictures of different people and other strange creatures. Shadow had never seen anything like this before.

"Welcome to Chaos HQ." DA said, looking around, "the idiots should be around here somewhere."

"Chaos HQ?" Shadow asked.

"The head quarters of the crazy authoress dragonia" a new voice said.

Shadow turned around to find two more people standing behind her. One looked identical to DA, except that she had her hair down and was wearing short black pants and a blue shirt, as well as what seemed to be a dice on a chain around her neck. The other girl had dark brown hair cut off at her shoulders and dark brown eyes. She was wearing dark blue pants, black boots, and a black T-shirt with a bright blue dragon on it. The DA twin stood there with a blank look on her face while the other stood there smiling happily.

"Shadow, meet my baka hikari dragonia, and my other half Amber" DA said, pointing to the two girls, "idiots, this is Shadow."

************

From that day foreward Shadow remained at Chaos HQ and became one of our well known friends. However, the loss of her friends and family still weighs heavily on her heart. And still, she vows someday, that she will find her lost cousin Hunter. But until that day comes, she'll just stay here and help out with the stories.

_____________________________________________________________________

Well, hope everyone enjoyed that little story about Shadows past. Some of the things in this story also had to do with my story "20 years Later" my FF9 story. But that's being re-written right now. Anyways, please review and tell me what you thought. Later.^_^


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